


From Inside

by Papaveri



Series: Rete Mirabile [1]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Genre: Body Horror, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-04
Updated: 2015-01-04
Packaged: 2018-03-05 08:39:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3113336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Papaveri/pseuds/Papaveri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The devil is in the details and details are all you have.</p>
            </blockquote>





	From Inside

**Author's Note:**

> The black hands on dark mages is a thing of headcanon; I like it when magic has visible effects on its users.

The afterglow of the transportation spell wears off but Lyon still does not look _right_ ; there's a strange tone to his skin, a rosy tint that seems faded and pulsating in the wrong places –under his eyes instead of on his cheeks, in his neck– and his pupils look too gray and unfocused.

For a moment, Ephraim thinks he's not looking in his direction, but Lyon calls him by name and his voice –soft and natural, more solid than he remembers; does he remember well, after two years?– does not belong in a mouth that looks too dark against lips as white as paper.

His hands, his hands are the same kind of black coal is, dull and frail like it's going to crack at any moment, but Ephraim only catches a glimpse of them and he's too focused on what Lyon is saying to give them much thought.

Lyon says his father died like a coward with a smile so tense that looks like a scar and Ephraim feels like he's breathing salt water (for an instant, he thinks of the emperor's blood on his lance, dark as mud).

 

***

The man in the gallows has a thin face like Lyon and calm eyes like Lyon and charred hands like Lyon; he speaks of sacrilegious magic and the sacred stone of Grado and his words spike (and Ephraim can feel his nails digging in his palms) when he mentions _the prince_.

 

***

“He didn't... sound like usual. He didn't look like...,” _like a person_ ; Eirika lets her expression –the disgusted shape of her mouth, the ring of her voice– talk in her stead.

Ephraim thought she might go talk to Knoll after the explanations he could offer in Jehanna, but she always came to him: was he sure, was he sure, are you sure, brother.

Ephraim isn't really, he thinks, his memories of his friend bite at him every time he remembers that voice, that skin, that look

After meeting Lyon herself, Eirika doesn't ask him (or anyone) again.

 

***

The light inside mount Neleras is too hot and turns every color into some shade of red or orange, but Ephraim can see how the strange misplaced patches in Lyon's skin melt into a more natural shade.

His fingers are, however, still black around his bracelet and his words don't belong (he doesn't want them to).

 

***

In his dream, Lyon kisses him and tastes of nothing, and has the coldest hands Ephraim has ever felt on his –face, neck, wrists– skin.

When he pulls back, he's not, he's not, he's not ( _there was something wrong in his skin and in his eyes and in his hands and in his voice and in his posture and_ ), but he speaks like in their classes.

“You shouldn't open your eyes when you kiss,” he says ( _in his lips and in his mouth and_ , he can feel his soft palms everywhere). “You really don't know anything.”

It's the last time he hears him laugh: a faulty reconstruction of breathy sounds.

 

***

Lyon's blood looks bright and thick like molten wax on Eirika's blade, on her fingers, and when a couple drops get on his face Ephraim swears they burn.

 

**Author's Note:**

> So there's this part after the desert chapter when Ephraim says Lyon didn't look human when he met him in Grado and I was very, very sold. On my first attempt at this fic I went pretty overboard with the inhuman stuff, though, so I had to filter it a lot (because it simply isn't in the canon and it had gotten SO PRETENTIOUS). The body horror tag is still there, though, just in case.
> 
> I kinda wanted to make it longer? But honestly, even if I do enjoy describing ugly things like a possessed prince I'm not too keen on writing angsty fic, and I kept going off on a tangent about Eirika (which is a thing for another time). 
> 
> Also, there's no way this hasn't been done before in 10 years but I wanted to take a stab at it myself. I hope you liked it!


End file.
